Dave and Carol moved into the home in April 2010. Before they found it, they’d been looking at lofts downtown. Parking was an issue. But neither of them wanted a “cookie-cutter” home. They wanted something unique. And they wanted to live centrally in an area with cultural amenities and/or mature trees.

“I just didn’t want to have to drive the Henday to get anywhere,” says Caroline.

Dave happened to see a discussion about straw-bale housing on a local website and contacted Battle Lake Design Group the next day.

They’ve now fallen in love with their two-storey, 1,200-square-foot, Mill Creek-area triplex and are building another bedroom in the unfinished basement. Their family might expand one day.